Shopping via TV has been in existence for a long time however never being seriously realized for a large population, even when online shopping via computers has been quite mature in the recent years. The major barriers for TV shopping may be the awkward user interaction mechanism of TV via remote control, as well as people's traditional recognition of TV as a home entertainment platform but not an operation platform. As we are moving into the era of smart devices including smart TVs, the current TV shopping model may be out-of-dated.
In recent years, contents can be rent or purchased via TV. People are looking into shopping business as a natural extension of the content business and hope to use home TV as a supporting facility. Some shopping vendors made downloadable applications for TV (e.g., iPhone or Android applications). However, due to the difficulty in using TV remote controls, it may be questionable how this approach can compete with online shopping via PCs or mobile phones. Some other vendors proposed to collect coupons automatically for a user based on the user's selection when watching TV, and the user has to click a specific button on the remote control before the ending of the merchandise advertisement TV program to lock in the specific coupon. However, this approach may put users into an alert mood, which may destroy the main principle that TV watching is a relaxed experience for fun.
The disclosed methods and systems are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems